Ute Mountain Ute Tribe v. Padilla

Issue: (1) Whether a state has the power to tax minerals production within the territorial boundaries of an Indian nation when the state provides no services in that location whatsoever, and where the tribe’s members cannot even vote in that state’s elections, amounting to taxation without representation; and (2) whether Cotton Petroleum Corp. v. New Mexico (1989) permits New Mexico to tax oil and gas operators’ activities on Indian trust land even where, as here, “the State has nothing to do with the on-reservation activity, save tax it”?

Briefs and Documents

Certiorari-stage documents

• Opinion below (10th Cir.)
• Petition for certiorari
• Brief in opposition
• Amicus brief of the National Congress of American Indians
• Amicus brief of the Council of Energy Resource Tribes